The track coach at Oklahoma State University for 32 years, Ralph Higgins was on the Olympic staff in 1956 and 1960 and developed such top athletes as Olympian J.W. Mashburn, outstanding pole vaulters Jim Graham, George Davies and Aubrey Dooley and miler Tom Von Ruden.
Higgins graduated from Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State) in 1925 after a sporting career that saw him compete in football, basketball and track, winning the Southwest Conference 100 and 440 titles in the latter sport. He became OSU's head track coach in 1935 and his teams won many titles, including 17-straight Missouri Valley Conference team championships when the school was in that league. His 1954 cross country team won the national collegiate title and his 1965 indoor track team was second at the national collegiate championships. After leaving OSU, he helped coach the U.S. Army track team.